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The study described in this paper is part of an effort to improve understanding of the science assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). It involved the coding of all the items in the 1996 NAEP science assessments, which included 45 blocks (15 each for grades 4, 8, and 12) and over 500 items. Each of the approximately 2,500 students participating in the assessment was given a test booklet with 3 blocks of cognitive items. One was a conceptual/problem solving block, one, a theme block, and the last, a block of items associated with a performance task. Coding the item attributes provides descriptive information for each item, each block, and the whole test. The focus of this paper is on the grade-4 blocks. Nine science experts (two NAEP experts and a science teacher for each grade level) coded the attributes in the assessment according to categories such as knowledge of principles and reasoning with content. In all, 39 attributes were assessed. Results from the coding and block analyses suggest that, overall, the 1996 NAEP science assessment is a balanced assessment with respect to the science fields involved and item format used. Reasoning with content and explanation were the most significant attributes assessed; they were found to be key to successful performance on all three types of item blocks. (Contains 2 figures, 7 tables, and 12 references.) (SLD)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert